Our View: TOPS needs tweaking

Louisiana Rep. Marcus Hunter, D-Monroe, believes he has a way to help keep some of Louisiana's best and brightest students in the state after graduation.

Hunter plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming session that ties working in the state after graduation to the number of years the graduate has received the state's TOPS scholarship.

Louisiana's Taylor Opportunity Program for Students began as a solely merit-based scholarship program 16 years ago in 1997. Since then, it's helped more than 210,000 students reach their academic goals with a financial payout of $1.5 billion. TOPS is funded through an annual allocation by the Legislature.

Students who achieve at the highest levels of the scholarship program can receive full tuition payments to any of the state's public post-secondary institutions including technical colleges. Students wishing to attend private universities are allowed the same scholarship amount they would receive for attending a public school.

The intent of TOPS was to provide the opportunity for a college education for every student in Louisiana who met basic academic standards. The program has accomplished that.

Hunter believes that if the student chooses to leave the state for other employment after having received TOPS and without having worked the required number of years, the employer should reimburse the state for the money invested in the student's education.

We agree with Hunter that the TOPS program needs tweaking to control its costs. However, his idea does as well. It's unlikely the state could force an out-of-state employer to reimburse the college expenses of a new hire.

Instead, we might suggest a contract between the state and the student. Treat the scholarship as a low-interest student loan that can be forgiven if a student graduates from college and works in the state.

That would solve two issues with TOPS - students who take the scholarship but either aren't successful or drop out of college and those who get a free ride and immediately leave for greener pastures.

If a student does not graduate, he or she would be responsible for repaying the amount of the scholarship for the time in school. And if a student graduates and stays in the state, the scholarship would be forgiven annually for each year the student remains. In our view, the loan provision of payback or forgiveness would kick in one year after graduation or immediately after forfeiture of the scholarship.

An exemption could granted for graduate students as long as they're continuing to pursue their education, and and also to those who select military, government or religious service outside the state. You could even go so far as to exempt people working for a Louisiana-headquartered company in another state.

As legislators look for ways to control spiraling costs, TOPS should be part of the discussion. The program can be streamlined.

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Our View: TOPS needs tweaking

Louisiana Rep. Marcus Hunter, D-Monroe, believes he has a way to help keep some of Louisiana's best and brightest students in the state after graduation.